L for Legend
by AmieJ9
Summary: L and Valentina have always been good friends, and they would no doubt go to extreme lengths to protect the other. So when L is given the Kira case, Valentina can't help but go snooping. It wasn't her intention, however, to discover Kira in the process.
1. Another Day

Okay, I haven't tried anything like this before, so feedback would be awesome. You don't have to watch Death Note to understand it, but it kinda helps.

Reminder: English spellings (Colour, favourite).

•••Chapter 1•••

•••Valentina's POV•••

Thursday. Just another day at school.

I tapped my pencil against the desk lightly, not bothering to look up at the board. I'd already figured the answers out, so there was no need for me to listen to the pointless ramblings.

I wasn't a genius or anything, I just understood maths. I didn't know how, but it just came to me as easily as breathing. No, I would have to leave the genius status to the person sat in the other back corner. L.

For some reason nobody knew his real name, not even me - one of his only friends. He was always so quiet and calm, but he did have this weird way of sitting. Almost like crouching, but not quite the same.

He looked up, meeting my eyes.

I raised my eyebrows, referring to the teacher. He shrugged lightly as a response.

"Thirty-five over ninety-two," a cool yet smug voice answered, upon being asked question sixteen.

I briefly glanced over at Light Yagami. He was intelligent, almost as intelligent as L, but the only difference was that Light liked to show it off. Constantly.

I looked back down at my empty table, then around at everybody else. They were all concentrating furiously, trying to keep up with the fast-paced work load.

"Where's your work?" a calm voice questioned. My head shot up. I stared at the teacher for a second. "Yes, I was talking to you."

"In my head," I answered.

She sighed slightly. "I know you don't need it, but you need to have some kind of paper record."

I shrugged. "My hand doesn't write as fast as my brain thinks. Paper holds me back."

She glanced around the room quickly, before placing a sheet on my desk. I surveyed it quickly, then grinned. My kind of maths. "Thanks," I muttered. She nodded a little and smiled warmly.

She turned and walked to the other side of the room. She placed the same sheet on L's desk. He didn't even look up at the teacher, he just pulled it closer and studied it.

She probably would have given one to Light Yagami too, but I knew as well as anybody else that he always had the constant attention of the girls, no matter where he went.

If they found the teacher giving harder sheets only to us, it could be classed as favouritism.

It was.

After a few minutes of solving the problems on the paper, I looked up at the clock on the wall, then over at L, who had already finished (no surprise there). "Three minutes," I mouthed.

He looked up at the clock himself, as if he didn't believe me. He looked back and shook his head. "Two," he mouthed back.

"It changed," I replied silently.

"Liar," he said, a little louder than he'd probably expected. He shoved his head down and pretended to work, so people looked at the kid sat next to him instead.

I shook my head slightly, then looked back up at the clock.

•••

"What d'you mean you're being chased by rabid bunnies?" I yelled into my turned-off phone. I glanced around, enjoying the reactions.

"Why do you do that?" L asked, pulling out a chair and crouching on it. He carefully placed his food - I mean sweets - onto the table in front of him.

"It's fun," I shrugged. "Wait," I hissed, my face turning serious. "Can you hear that?"

L looked up, concerned. "What is it?"

"If you listen carefully, you can hear a sheep, going 'baa'," I said seriously.

He frowned. "Near isn't a sheep."

"Looks like one." I stabbed my straw into my apple juice. "Oh, speaking of sheep..."

Near wandered over to the table and crouched on the seat next to L. He stared at him expectantly. "Hello, Near," he greeted.

"Hi, L. I just had science," he said brightly.

"Learn much?" L asked, not looking at him.

"Yes, actually. Did you know-" I tuned out here. I looked around the cafeteria, searching for a different face. Two different faces, to be exact.

Normally, when L was sat with me, Near came and sat with us. He had really started to annoy me, so I just tuned out whenever he talked.

I found the faces, then waved them over. "Hi Mello, hey Matt," I said, pushing out two chairs opposite me with my foot. Mello flicked his blonde hair from his eyes and sat down, a slight creaking sound coming from the leather he was wearing.

Matt, as usual, was on his PSP. Or DS. I couldn't tell. He was wearing his usual, odd clothing, complete with a pair of orange goggles wrapped around his dark red hair.

"Morning, V," Mello answered. Matt gave me a slight nod, since he didn't want to get too distracted from the game he was playing.

"Matt," I repeated.

"Yeah," he muttered, not listening to me at all.

"Have you killed Bowser yet?"

Matt ignored me.

"You'll know when he does, he'll start doing that victory dance," Mello answered through a mouthful of chocolate.

"NO!" Matt yelled, attracting the attention of a few people nearby, including L and Near. He slammed his console on the table and put his head in his hands. "He killed me."

"Wow, Matt, you should be more mellow. Like Mello," I said.

Mello shot me a look. "At least I don't look like a marshmallow," he smirked, referring to Near's white hair and pale complexion.

"Mello, why are you always so mean to Near?" I whined.

"Like you're not," he smirked.

"Near, Mello called you a marshmallow!" I said.

"Near, Valentina called you a sheep!" I flashed a grin at Mello and made a sheep noise. Even L had to stifle a smile.

"Give me the cake or face the consequences," a calm voice demanded.

"Huh?" I looked down at my piece of cake, then up at L. "My cake!"

"Too bad, I'm taking the cake." He snatched it from in front of me and pulled it towards himself. He was just about to take a bite (of MY cake) when a shrill ringing sound stopped him. He sighed, then pulled his phone out. "Hello?" he asked, his voice muffled from my cake.

"I see... okay... I'm on it... three in the afternoon... see you then." He closed his phone and took another bite of cake.

"What is it?" I asked worriedly.

He looked around for a second. "It's fine, everybody on the table is safe," I reassured him.

He leant forwards. "I've been given the Kira case."


	2. Lightbulb

•••Chapter 2•••

•••Valentina's POV•••

"What? You can't take the Kira case!"

"Why not?" he asked, completely oblivious.

"Because it's dangerous! You'll get yourself killed!" I hissed, trying to keep my voice down.

"I'll be fine," he replied nonchalantly.

"What if you die?" I asked, leaning forward.

"What are you talking about?" Near asked, poking his little sheep head between us.

"L's been given the Kira case," Mello said casually, joining in the conversation.

"Can I-" Near began.

"No," Mello answered immediately.

"L, you can't take this case. It's too dangerous." I looked up, to see L was already lost in thought.

All hope was lost.

L was sat with his head rested in his knees, his eyes filled with thought. He was already forming a plan.

"L?" I muttered.

He glanced up, then looked back down to signal he was listening.

"Okay, I know I've lost already, you're going to do it. At least, if you're going to take this case, can I help?" I asked.

After a few seconds he shook his head slowly.

"Why not?"

"It's too dangerous," he said simply.

"And?"

"You're too important."

"To who? The guy at the corner shop who always give me extra change just 'cause he likes me a little bit more than he likes you?" I questioned, letting out a short, dry laugh.

"No, to me. And Mello, Matt and Mear, of course."

"Yeah, I'm really important to Near," I cheered sarcastically.

"You are. And besides, I didn't say you couldn't help, you can help, just not directly."

I stared at him suspiciously. "What do you mean by 'not directly'?"

"By not actually being there, but helping behind-the-scenes style."

I raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"I already suspect Kira may be working with the police."

"With the police?" Matt asked, sitting up quickly.

L smiled slightly. "No, not like that. I mean that he probably works for the police secretly, or lives in the same household as someone who does."

"Makes you think that?" I asked.

"How else would Kira access information like criminals names, the case files, things like that without being noticed?"

"Could be really good at computer stuff," Matt suggested.

"Did you just call yourself Kira?" Near asked Matt.

"No!" Matt defended.

"No, even you know, Matt, there must have been some kind of trace somewhere. Something like this just doesn't go unnoticed," L muttered, biting his thumb.

"Yes, but you have to take into account the massive amount of-" I didn't understand the words that followed, nor did I ever intend to.

Instead, I was just let to sit there and watch the four boys shoot words around so fast I could barely decipher them. As normal.

"Class in thirty seconds exactly," I said to myself. "What do we have?" I asked myself in an 'L' voice. "I have art, but I think you have psychology," I replied in my normal voice. "Cool, V, I think I have the same class as you," I interrupted in a 'Mello' voice. "Oh, V, you're so amazing, please steal my cake," I said in my 'L' voice. "If you insist," I said in my normal voice.

I proceeded to take L's cake. Well, it was my cake in the first place. I managed to take the last bite just as the bell went. "Mello, you're in my art class," I told him, pulling a strand of his light blonde hair.

"Wonderful," he replied sarcastically. He and Matt stood up and began to walk towards the art rooms. As far as I knew, Matt had French, which was based near the art rooms.

"You know you love me, M," I smiled, shoving him.

"I'm also qualified to be called 'M', and no, I'm afraid to say I don't quite love you as much as I love my PSP," Matt interrupted.

"What PSP?" Near asked, walking straight past us and smirking slightly.

Matt's face drained of all colour. His hands flew to check his pockets. Moments later, he pulled out his DS, but his PSP was nowhere in sight. "What did you do to it?" Matt asked Near furiously.

"Took it away for testing," Near answered simply.

Matt's eye twitched. "Now I don't wanna hit a kid, but if you don't tell me where my..." his voice faded away quickly as he got further away from Mello and I.

"Do you know where it is?" I asked Mello sceptically.

He let out a laugh. "I don't work alongside that marshmallow."

"Sheep," I disagreed.

"Marshmallow," he insisted.

"Sheep," I repeated.

Mello made a mocking sheep sound.

"Stop making fun of Near!" I defended.

"And calling him a sheep isn't making fun of him?" he asked, a smile clear in his voice.

"No, calling Near a sheep is simply describing him," I explained.

"Is Near aware that he's a sheep?" he asked, holding the door of the art classroom open for me.

"Does he own a mirror?" I contradicted, stepping through the door.

"Probably." Mello sat in his seat, dropping his backpack to the floor.

"Then Near is perfectly aware of his sheep-like state."

A snapping sound rang through the air. Mello's hand quickly reached up to his mouth, then back down to his lap.

"Subtle," I complimented.

"Thanks." He pulled the plain piece of paper that was already on the desk towards him.

I pulled out a pencil and did the same.

According to the 'objective' on the giant whiteboard, today's assignment was to create a piece of artwork using a stimulus in pairs or threes.

I looked at the stimulus on our desk. It looked like a diamond, but was probably only glass. I frowned. "That's not very interesting."

Mello crushed it with his fist. "There. Now we have something to work with."

"So you have an idea?" I asked hopefully.

"Nope."

•••

One hour and a few sheets of paper later, our masterpiece was nearly complete. I had drawn a broken diamond in the middle, while Mello had stuck the pieces of broken glass all around it.

It didn't actually look that bad.

Who was I kidding? It looked terrible.

"That's pathetic," Mello commented, studying the piece of paper.

"At least it doesn't look like his," I said, referring to Light Yagami's poor attempt at creativity. He might have been a genius at everything else, but when it came to art he failed completely.

Mello looked over and chuckled. "What is that?"

"I don't know... and I don't really want to."

Mello turned his attention back to our work, while my eyes remained on Light, who was digging through his backpack for something.

A few moments later, he pulled a little black notebook out and rested it on the table. He opened it to a few pages in and began to write in it.

I nearly laughed. Light Yagami, well-known for his intelligence and womanising, kept a diary?

Surely, if he valued his reputation in any way, he would have waited until he was alone to whip out his diary and write down his feelings?

Without warning, Light's head shot up and around. His glaring eyes met mine. I held my hands up in surrender and shrugged. "Not one to judge. Just curious, that's all. Didn't know you kept a diary."

Unexpectedly, he began to smile. A proper smile - his eyes creased around the edges and his shoulders went up slightly. "Oh, good. It's just a little embarrassing. What was your name again?"

"Valentina Blake," I answered.

"Nice to meet you, Valentina, I'm Light." He gave me one last smile before turning back to his work and writing something else in his notebook.

Mello chuckled. "Freak. How obviously fake was that smile?"

I shook my head and smiled. "Do you like anybody at all apart from me, Matt and L?"

"No, not really," he shrugged.

Suddenly, I had this weird sensation. I felt the overwhelming need to go to the toilets, even though I didn't need to actually use them. "I kinda need to go to the toilet," I complained.

"Don't you dare," Mello warned. "This thing looks like crap and I need you to help me fix it."

"But I really need to go..."

"Too bad, you're staying here even if I have to physically restrain you," he growled.

"But-" I began.

"Besides, you went only an hour-and-a-half ago."

"I don't need the toilet though," I replied.

"But you want to go to the toilets anyway?"

Mello asked sceptically.

I nodded.

"Tough. You're staying here."

"I think, if she needs to go, then let her go," Light interrupted, sounding quite forceful.

"Nobody asked for your opinion, Light-bulb, go back to your 'arts and crafts'," Mello scolded.

The feeling began to disappear.

What was that feeling? It was strange, almost as if somebody was controlling me. But that wasn't possible, so I was just being stupid. I was probably coming down with something.

I looked back down at our work, silently wondering where L was. If one thing was for sure, it was that he wasn't in psychology.


	3. Drinks

•••Chapter 3•••

•••Valentina's POV•••

"So if I am to execute my plan perfectly, I need your help," L said. I stared around the table of the restaurant. Mello, Matt, L and I were all sat around one rather big table.

Oh yeah, Near the Sheep was there too, he just blended in with the seats so I kind of forgot about him.

"As the four of you know, in school I am addressed as 'Ryuuzaki'. Only you know my true identity. Well, not my real name, but... you get the point," L said, his voice muffled by a large mouthful of marshmallow.

I glanced at at Mello and smirked. He and I were thinking the same thing: L was eating Near.

Anyway, according to the school population, Mello, Matt, Near and I called 'Ryuuzaki' L because it was a nickname.

"And you're telling us this because...?" Matt asked, staring down at his PSP.

"I plan to reveal myself as L to the suspect," he explained.

Everybody - even Matt - looked up at L in shock.

"You can't do that, he'll kill you!" Mello half-shouted.

"I agree, it's a very bad idea," Near put in.

"Wait," I interrupted. "We're forgetting something here - you haven't told us who you suspect yet."

"I'll tell you when I've revealed myself to him," he said calmly.

"Him?" Matt asked, leaning forwards.

"Why, did you expect it to be a her?" Near chucked.

I raised my eyebrow at him. He immediately fell silent.

"Yes, I'm fairly certain it's a him," L answered, ignoring the little conversation between Near and I.

"So it's a guy, he has a connection to the police and he goes to our school," Mello rounded up, slouching back on his seat.

"Yeah, but the problem is that there are way too many people in our school who have a connection with the police, or are able to access the information by hacking," I interrupted.

"That's a very good point," Matt agreed.

"Then we need to narrow it down," L explained, examining his food carefully.

"Soon enough, an opportunity will present itself for us to narrow the suspects down by a considerable amount," Near's drawling voice said.

"So we don't need to think about it right now. How about tonight - for the first time in a while - we just be friends? Instead of all these cases we normally work on," I suggested.

It really had been a while since we'd just gotten to be friends, instead of the detective team we usually were. But really, as much as L claimed that the name 'L' was an alias for the five of us, we all knew it was really just L. He didn't want to think it, but that was just the way it was.

"I like that idea," Mello agreed.

Matt nodded. "We've been working pretty hard."

"First round on me!" I declared. "Non-alcoholic, please, I don't wanna have to drag any of you home." That was meant for mostly Mello - he lived in the same apartment block as I did.

Matt sighed grudgingly, L seemed happy, Near wasn't really affected either way and Mello probably wouldn't listen to me.

Well, it looked like I'd be dragging home a drunk Mello that night. Although, honestly, a drunk Mello was a happy Mello. A happy Mello made a happy Valentina, because I wouldn't have to listen to his angry rants about how Near always beat him even though he was just 'a kid'.

Near wasn't really 'a kid' compared to us. Mello and Matt were eighteen, L and I were seventeen and Near was fifteen.

I was only in a few classes with Matt and Mello because sometimes the classes were in ranks of pure ability instead of age/ability.

And yes, that did mean that I was in a few classes with Near. He actually wasn't so bad when he was on the other side of the room being completely silent.

"So what kind of alcoholic drink would you like today, Mello?" I asked.

"I thought you said I wasn't allowed alcohol?" he asked, raising a blonde eyebrow.

"Yeah, you were actually going to listen to me, weren't you?" I asked sarcastically.

"Fair enough. The usual, thanks V."

I went around the table, asking for what drinks everyone wanted. When I had everyone's orders, I went to the bar to order them.

It took two trips to get them all back. By the time I was finished with the second journey Mello had already finished his drink and was biting into a fresh bar of chocolate.

"Y'know, Mello, I've never seen you actually finish a bar of chocolate," Matt commented.

"Yeah, didn't you notice?" Mello asked, sounding completely serious. "I keep a stash of half eaten chocolate bars under my bed, because I can't stand the thought of anybody ever seeing me finish one."

"Explains it," L put in.

"Wouldn't be surprised," I said.

"I must agree," Near joined in.

"You're being serious," Mello stated.

"Exactamundo," I confirmed.

"What?" two voices asked at the same time.

"Nothing," I muttered. "Anyway... another drink?" I offered. "This round's on L!"

L made a slight groaning sound.

"C'mon, L, whip out your man-purse, I'm thirsty," Mello grinned.

"Man-purse?" L asked sceptically.

"Yeah, you're meant to keep it in your man-bag," Mello examined.

I sniggered. "Along with your guy-liner and hair straightners?"

"Hey!" Mello defended. "If I don't straighten my hair, this part sticks up!" He pointed to the left side of his head.

"You straighten your hair?" I asked in surprise.

He flushed a deep shade of pink.

"He was wearing pink socks with hearts on yesterday, too," Matt smirked, joining in.

"Hey!" Mello yelled, going even redder. "You put them there and stole my other ones!"

"Mello, just admit defeat and hand over your man-card," I sighed.

"Can we stop talking about man-bags, man-cards, guy-liner and any other word hyphen now please?" Mello asked, exasperated.

"You forgot man-purse," Matt pointed out.

"Shut up," Mello snapped back.

"Don't think we've forgotten about you, L," I said, turning to him with my hand out. "It's still your round."

L went to get his man-purse out, but stopped suddenly. "I think, with everything that just happened, it should be Mello's round."

"Hey!" Mello protested. "That's bullying!"

"No, it's fairness," L insisted.

"Just for that, you can both buy drinks," Matt instructed.

"Two drinks?" Mello questioned. "I'm not the kind of guy to pass up on two drinks at once."

"Believe me, I know," I muttered, remembering all the times I'd had to drag him home.

"Believe me, I know you know," he copied.

"I'm surprised you know, I had doubted you'd remembered all those times I had to pull you back to your apartment," I calmly retorted.

"Fair enough." He put his money on the table and slid it to me.

"L?"

L pulled out his own money and handed it to me. I picked up Mello's money from the table and began my second journey to the bar.

•••

Just as I had expected the night to end. Matt was only slightly drunk, L was one hundred and fifty percent sober, I had only had one alcoholic drink, Mello was drunk out of his mind (yet still making perfect sense) and Near just sat there like some kind of sheep statue.

Could you even get statues of sheep?

I shook the thought off and looked around. The five of us were stood outside the restaurant, waiting for the taxis to come. L and Near would take separate taxis, while Mello, Matt and I would begin the short walk back to our apartments.

But Matt had already disappeared. To where, I didn't know. He shared an apartment with Mello, so we'd know if anything happened to him.

"See you later everyone," L said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Bye, L." I waved half-heartedly.

When nobody else responded due to ignorance (Mello), boredom (Near), or excessive PSP-ing (Matt, who had suddenly appeared) L turned to his taxi and got in.

"Call me if anything else happens with the case," I said, just before L closed the taxi door.

"Goodbye everyone," Near said, opening the door to his own taxi. I made a sheep sound in response.

"Where did you go?" Mello asked Matt.

"Zebra hunting," Matt responded seriously.

"Oh, cool," I put in. "Find any?

He shook his head sadly. "Nope. Not a good day to hunt zebras."

By 'zebra hunting', I assumed he meant he had gone to the toilet. Although I had no idea how zebra hunting linked with toilets, but I'd go with it anyway.

We all turned to the left at the same time and began to walk. It was only a five minute journey, so we didn't need to take a taxi. As usual, we walked past the familiar shops, houses and places until we reached the giant building we were meant to call home.

Not much of a home.

We walked through to the stairs and up to our rooms, still chattering as we went. I fished the key from my pocket and inserted it into the keyhole. I looked to the left to see Matt doing the same thing. They had the apartment next to me.

Sometimes it was handy, a lot of the time it was annoying.

"See ya later, alligators," I said to them, before swinging open my door and jumping in. I heard a double knock on the wall, sort of Mello's way of saying 'see you later, V', and Matt's way of nodding slightly behind the screen of his PSP.

Feeling absolutely exhausted, I went straight t my bed and collapsed on it. I knew soon enough I'd be out like a light.

My eyes shot open suddenly.

Light Yagami, a goody-two-shoes genius, a strong sense of justice, and most importantly - a strong connection to the police.

Could he really be Kira?

Deciding to cut off the thought stream until the next morning, I closed my eyes and let sleep fall over me.


	4. Suspicion

_I'm sorry for disappearing ._

•••Chapter 4•••

•••Valentina's POV•••

I was woken up at a very unfortunate time of the morning by shouting. Matt and Mello's shouting, to be exact. After a poor attempt at trying to block the noise out with my pillow, I decided to do something about it.

Groaning, I pulled myself up and shoved the covers off me. I grabbed the spare key to Matt and Mello's apartment - the key which they may or may not have been aware existed. I used it to unlock the door to their apartment.

When I walked in, they both turned to look at me in surprise. It didn't take them long to get angry again, though.

"Care to explain why you're shouting at this time, boys?" I asked tiredly.

"He stole my chocolate!" Mello yelled, pointing at Matt.

"He stole my PSP!" Matt shouted, pointing back at him.

I sighed. "Okay. First - how did this even happen at this time? And second - Matt, I thought Near had your PSP?"

"I stole it bacl," Matt said proudly.

"Yeah, you steal a lot of things, don't you?" Mello muttered.

"Yes, Mello. I did steal your chocolate. And you know what? It was the best chocolate I've ever eaten," Matt taunted.

"Shut up!"

"God, you two need anger management classes or something!" I shouted.

"I'd like to not control my anger, thank you very much," Mello stated.

My eyes widened. "Did you just say what I thought you said?"

Matt smirked. "I think he did."

"Why? What did I say?" Mello asked quickly, his eyes darting between Matt and I.

"You said the magic word!" I gasped.

"Anger?"

"No, you said thank you!" I exclaimed.

"I didn't mean it like that though," he said bluntly.

"Oh well, you still said it!" I sang.

He laughed bitterly. "Yeah, but I'll turn into an orange the day you ever hear me say the 'S' or 'P' word and mean it."

By 'S' and 'P' words, he meant 'Sorry' and 'Please'. Clear your dirty minds out, people!

"I know one way we could turn you into an orange," Matt said, hardly able to control his smirk.

"How?" I asked for Mello.

Matt laughed, then hurled an orange at Mello's head.

Although it wasn't Matt's turn to laugh. Mello caught the speedy orange. He squeezed it until it burst and oozed down his arm, then dripped from his elbow to the floor.

Matt's face dropped. "I..."

"Do you like oranges, Matt?" Mello asked suddenly.

"No, I hate oranges. Why?"

"Because I'm about to beat you with one."

Matt laughed stupidly, then ran away.

Mello just rolled his eyes and turned to leave.

"Where are you going?" I asked, swinging my arms around like a kid.

"Out."

"Where?"

"Out," he repeated through gritted teeth.

"Where's out?"

"Out is out!"

"Are you going on your motorbike?"

"Yes."

"Can I come?"

"No."

"Thank you so much, M!" I yelled, running over to him and hugging him. I grabbed his special black helmet and handed him the spare.

I ran all the way downstairs with Mello running closely behind me. He probably had let me win.

"Can I drive it, too?" I asked excitedly, my eyes lighting up.

He raised a blonde eyebrow. "I don't know, can you?"

"Oh, stop being so pedantic, can I drive your bike?" I asked impatiently.

"Are you going to hurt it?" he asked hesitantly.

"Nope."

"Are you going to kill me?"

"I'll try not to," I answered honestly.

"Are you going to crash it?"

"No."

"Fine... but if you hurt it, I'll kill you," he warned, putting on his spare helmet.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah. You've threatened to kill me plenty of times, and I'm still here."

"This time I mean it," he said seriously.

"Blah, blah, blah - let's drive!" I grabbed the handle bars and swung myself over.

"I hate you for doing this," he reminded me.

"Yup," I said, purposely sounding like I wasn't listening. "How do you drive a motorbike again?" I asked.

"Oh, god, I'm gonna die," he muttered through his helmet.

"Kidding," I chuckled. "Keys?"

He tossed me the keys, then jumped on himself. It dipped slightly, before coming back up again.

Just before I started the bike, I turned back to Mello. "You're kinda gonna need to hold on, or else you'll fall off and die."

"Yeah yeah, whatever."

"Where to?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Scotland?"

"Unless this is sectretly Hagrid's magical flying motorbike, no."

"Just drive."

"Yes, sir, Mr Mello, sir!" I turned back to the front and started the bike.

It had been ages since I had driven a bike. It felt surreal.

I didn't remember it like this, though. Now it was completely different. Now, the lights whirred past, dancing around and creating a wonderful light show, just for us. The neon colours contrasted with the inky black skies, making the experience even better.

Mello's arms around me tightened. I was probably going too fast.

I slowed it down a little, reluctantly.

"No, I meant drive faster!" a muffled voice yelled from behind me.

Ah, that made more sense.

I obeyed, going up to eighty. It felt absolutely amazing going that fast. I hadn't driven this fast since I had my old motorbike. Which, coincidentally, happened to look a lot like Mello's bike.

That was probably why I felt so at home on it.

My eyes widened upon seeing a strangely familiar face. Hey, was that... L?

Mello signalled for me to pull over by kicking my calf lightly. He had probably seen him too.

I slowed the bike down rapidly until it came to a complete stop. Mello jumped off first, then - to my complete and utter surprise - helped me off it too. I kicked open the makeshift stand for the bike and slowly leant it until it felt safe enough to let go.

"What's he doing around here?" I muttered, mostly to myself.

"I have no idea, but this looks pretty suspicious to me," Mello replied, voicing my exact thoughts.

"Text Matt and ask him."

"Already on it."

I pulled out my own rarely-used phone and typed in a text.

'Do you know where Ryuu is tonight?'

L had told us not to call him 'L' or 'Ryuuzaki' in texts.

I sent it to Near.

He replied almost immediately with; 'No, where have you seen him?'

I sent back; 'He's wandering around the lake area.'

"Matt says he doesn't know anything about where L is," Mello said, not bothering to look up from his phone.

My phone buzzed, signalling Near had texted me back. 'Call him.'

'On it.'

I pressed the dial button under the name 'Ryuu'. In the distance I could just see L pull out his phone and answer it. "Hello?" he asked.

"Hi, Ryuu. Where are you?"

"Is that Ryuu?" Mello asked. I nodded.

Then he did what he normally did. "Aw, hey, dude! I was just about to call you two! I was totally thinking we could all go out somewhere. Unless you're having big troubles with money, 'cause I would totally pay for you, bro."

"Ryuu, where are you?" I asked boredly.

"Oh. You should have two seperate numbers for me, I hate doing that voice."

"So where are you, exactly?" I asked again.

"Working on the case," he answered simply.

"Working on the case where?"

"Around."

"Right. Anyway, see you later, Ryuu," I said dismissively.

"Why did you call me? You can see me, can't you?"

Dammit. "No, I just thought I saw someone that looked like you near the lake," I lied. I knew it was him.

"Oh, right. See you later then?"

I was about to agree, when I remembered something. "Hey, Ryuu?"

"Yes?"

"I have something to tell you, is the line secure?" I asked.

"Yes, but don't tell me yet. Let me just..." I heard him press a few buttons on his phone. "Go ahead."

"Um... actually, I'll tell you later. Just in case. See ya, Ryuu." I pressed the 'End Call' button before he could say anything else.

In the distance, I saw L give his phone a weird look, before putting it back into his pocket.

"The bike would attract too much attention," Mello informed me.

"I know, don't treat me like I'm stupid."

He smirked. "But you are."

"Shut it, before I deck you with my helmet."

"My gun and I are shaking with fear," he said sarcastically.

"Are you threatening to shoot me?"

"V, I do it all the time. Don't act so surprised." He took the keys off me. "He already knows we're down here and we thought we saw him, but it's not him. So we can drive past without letting him know."

"And go where?" I asked.

"Watch him from a distance."

"Or we could just follow him on foot?" I suggested, like the idea was obvious.

Mello looked at his bike longingly, before responding with a hasty agreement.

"Alright then, L. What are you up to?"


End file.
